Corner joint brackets for metal doors



p 1311955 M. HIMMEL ET AL 2,717,665

CORNER JOINT BRACKETS FOR METAL DOORS Filed Oct. 4, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EBA five/760135: 1 721 Himmel 16 0202 JHz'w/zeZ Sept. 13, 1955 M, HIMMEL ET AL 2,717,665

CORNER JOINT BRACKETS FOR METAL DOORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 4, 1952 5 6 l l Tlg -17 F2 United tates Patent CORNER JOINT BRACKETS FOR METAL DGORS Murray Himmel and Harold J. Himmel, New Haven, Conn.

Application October 4, 1952, Serial No. 313,162

8 Claims. (Cl. 189-36) in the door frame and has a face flange superimposed on the outer face of the door frame to hide the out-of-square condition of the latter and also serve as an attractive setting for the metal door. However, the warped condition of a door frame presents considerable difficulties for the fitting of a metal door. Thus, metal doors of the modern articulated type do not readily lend themselves to permanent distortion out of plane to the extent required for their accurate fit in most warped door frames. This is due to the fact that the corner connections at the butt or miter joints between the upright stiles and the top and bottom rails of metal doors of this type are mostly castings and, hence, non-deformable, although deformable corner connections have been tried heretofore without much success because they deformed so readily that the door became distorted on being subjected to accidental bumps or other distorting forces of even minor severity. Accordingly, it is the more general practice to provide metal doors with strong and rigid corner connections and to fit the doors in Warped door frames by the laborious and unsightly expediency of building up behind the face flange of the metal door jamb on the door frame at such places that the metal door will fit at least in the mounted door jamb. Hence, in the absence of a metal door of this type which lends itself to intended forceful distortion out of plane for fitting purposes and has nevertheless suflicient rigidity to retain its shape under even severe adverse conditions to which doors are occasionally subjected, the metal door jamb is mounted to fit the metal door despite the time, labor and skill involved in the task and the unsightly appearance of the locally built-up face flange of the door jamb against the door frame.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a metal door of this type which readily lends itself to willful distortion out of plane for fitting purposes and has never theless suflicient rigidity to retain its given distorted shape when subjected to even severe distorting stresses to which doors are occasionally subjected unintentionally, permitting thereby the quick and effortless mounting of the metal door jamb in the door frame with regard only to its square disposition therein and in total disregard of the existing warpage of the door frame, so that the face flange of the door jamb may lie snugly and evenly against the adjacent face of the door frame in a manner both sightly and non-suggestive of the warpage of the latter.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a metal door of this type which may manually and ZflllfihS (itera ed Sept. 13, 1955 quickly be distorted permanently out.of place for fitting a mounted metal door jamb in a warped door frame without any tools and without undue effort or any special skill on the part of an operator entrusted with the task of fitting and hanging the door.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a metal door of this type which for fitting purposes may permanently be distorted out of plane in the aforementioned ready manner even after the door is hung, thus further facilitating and expediting the operators task of fitting the door.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a metal door of this type of which the corner connections or joints will, on permanently bending at least part of the stiles and rails of the door in consequence of forceful distortion of the latter out of plane for fitting purposes, readily deform permanently to conform to the distorted condition of the door without, however, giving way to further deformation when the door is subjected to accidental bumps or other distorting forces of considerable severity which doors in general are expected to withstand occasionally.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a metal door of this type of which the stiles and rails may be in the form of economical light-Weight channels which, in consequence of the forceful distortion of the door out of plane for fitting purposes, are bent substantially uniformly throughout their lengths in an imperceptible manner, and the hidden corner connections or joints in the adjacent ends of the stiles and rails are, on distortion of the door for fitting purposes, permanently deformed so readily as to leave no marks or other visible indications of their deformation on the door.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a metal door of this type of which the corner connections or joints will, on forceful distortion of the door out of plane for fitting purposes, be bent permanently along predetermined lines in a well-controlled fashion without giving Way to considerable twisting and collapsing stresses which, if permitted to twist or collapse these corner connections, would render distortion of the door out of plane all too easy not only when intended but also when non-intended.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a metal door of this type of which the aforementioned corner connections or joints are rectangular brackets having their diverging legs in the form of continuous channels which are in part tubular and in part U-shaped in cross-section to permit permanent bending of these corner connections along predetermined lines thereof, but prevent appreciable twisting or any inward collapse of the same, when the door is distorted out of plane for fitting purposes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a metal door of this type of which the corner connections or joints of the aforementioned channel construction may conveniently and economically be blanked from sheet metal and finish-formed by simple bending, so that the walls of the channels which are not continuous with one another are interlocked with each other to permit permanent bending of these corner connections along predetermined lines, but prevent any substantial twisting or inward collapse of the same, when the door is distorted out of plane for fitting purposes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for metal doors of this type corner connections or joints of the aforementioned blanked-out and bent channel construction in which there is play or clearance in the interlocks between the channel Walls sufficient to permit permanent bending of the corner connections without interference from these interlocks, but insuflicient to permit any substantial twisting of these corner connections,

when the door is distorted out of plane for fitting purposes.

It is still another object of the present invention to construct each of the corner connections or joints of the aforementioned blanked out and bent type so that the further bending of the same in consequence of willful distortion of the door out of plane for fitting purposes will be restricted to already bent corners on the opposite sides of the outer bottom wall of one of the diverting channels of the connection, leaving thereby the interlocks between the channel Walls undisturbed to resist twisting or collapse, or both, of the connection.

Further objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposesi Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hung and fitted metal door embodying the present invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are side and top views, respectively, of the door;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the corners of the door;

Fig. 5 is a section through the same corner of the door as taken on the line 5--S of Fig. 4, a corner connection inside this corner of the door being shown in elevation;

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 5, showing the corner connection also in section;

Fig. 6A is a section through the same corner of the door as taken on the line 6A 6A of Fig. 4;

Figs. 7 to 12, inclusive, are sections taken on the lines 7-7, 88, 99, 1010, 1111 and 12-12, respectively, of Fig. 5;

V Figs. 13 to 15 are different perspective views of the door corner connection alone, as seen from different directions;

Fig. 16 is a top view of the door corner shown in Fig. 4 prior to fitting the door to a door frame;

Fig. 17 is a top view of the same door corner after fitting the door to a door frame; and

Fig. 18 is a section through the same door corner after the door is fitted to a door frame.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, the reference numeral 20 designates a metal door which is hung on hinges 22 on a metal buck or door jamb 24 in a wooden door frame 26. The door jamb 24 may be of a conventional type, having a liner (not shown) mounted on-the-square in the door frame, and a face flange 28 superimposed on the adjacent face of the door frame to serve as an attractive setting or background for the door as well as to hide the usual out-ofsquare condition of the door frame.

The metal door 26) may be of any conventional type, and is in this instance shown as a combination storm and screen door having the usual glass covered panels 30 which may be replaced by similar screen covered panels (not shown). The door proper comprises spaced upright stiles 32 and connecting top and bottom rails 34 and 36 which are butt-joined at 38, in this instance in the usual miter fashion, with the adjacent ends of the upright stiles 32. The upright stiles 32 and the top and bottom rails 34 and 36 are metal channels (Figs. 7 and 11) formed preferably by extrusion. Extending across the upright stiles 32 are spaced mullions 40 and 42 on which the inserted panels 36 in the door apertures 44 and 46, respectively; are supported in releasably interlocked fashion. For full retention of the inserted panels 30 in the door; the former are also 'releasahly interlocked with the door at the tops of their respective reception aper tures 44 and 46.- The manner in which the panels 30 are removably held in their respective door apertures 44 and 46 may be entirely conventional, and is not shown since these removable panels do not form any part of the present invention. The door 20 is at the bottom provided with a solid metal panel 50 forming the usual kick plate,

and is further provided in this instance with a latch 52 for keeping the door closed.

In assembling the door in the factory, recourse is had to corner connections or joint elements 52 (Figs. 5, 6A, and 13 to 15) in order to connect the upright stiles 32 and the top and bottom rails 34 and 36 at their miter joints 38. In accordance With the present invention, these corner joint elements 52 are constructed to deform rather readily on willful distortion of the door out of plane for fitting purposes, so that these corner joints will conform to the distorted shape of the door Without giving way to further deformation when the door is subjected to accidental bumps or other distorting forces of considerable seven'ty which doors in general are expected to withstand occasionally.

Reference is now had particularly to Figs. 13 to 15 which show one of these corner joint elements 52. The corner joint element 52 there shown is in the form of a rectangular bracket having diverging legs 54 and 56 which together form a continuous channel 58 of general U-shape in cross-section (Fig; 15). The opposite side walls 60 and 62 of the channel 58 are flat and extend uninterruptedly throughout the length of the channel, while the bottom wall of the channel is divided into rectangularly disposed bottom sections 64 and 66 which are coextensive with the bracket legs 54 and 56,- respectively, and spaced at their adjacent ends as at 68; The bottom section 64 of the channel 58 is in this instance continuous with the adjacent portions of the side walls 60 and 62 at the corners 70 and 72, respectively. The other bottom section 66 of the channel 58 is in this instance continuous at one side with the adjacent portion of the side wall 60 at the corner 74 and has in its opposite side a notch 76 with which a tongue 78 of the other side wall 62 is interlocked.

The bracket 52 described so far is a continuous channel of U-shaped cross-section with the bottom of the channel on the outside. For reasons described hereinafter, the channel 58 of the bracket 52 is within the longitudinal extent of each leg 54 and 56 thereof formed in part of tubular cross-section. To this end, the portion of the side wall 62 which is coextensive with the bracket leg 54 has an integral lateral lug extension 80 terminating in a tongue 82 which is interlocked with a notch 84 in the opposite side wall 60. Further, the portion of the side wall 60 which is coextensive with the bracket leg 56 has an integral lateral lug extension 86 terminating in a tongue 88 which is interloeked with a notch 90 in the opposite side wall 62. The bracket legs 54 and 56 are thus in part tubular in cross-section at the lug' extensions 80 and 86, respectively. 7

It follows from the preceding that the bracket 52 may conveniently be blanked from sheet metal stock and formed into final shape by simply bending the blank at the corners 70, 72 and 74, as well as at the lug extensions 80 and 86 (Fig. 15), the finished bracket being formed throughout by walls which rectangula-rly diverge from each other. The bracket 52 thus obtained from a blank will, by virtue of its part tubular cross-section in the bracket legs 54 and 56, withstand internal collapse; and also other deformation when subjected to distortion forces, especially forces tending to twist the bracket;

It is the desired objective to have the mounted bracket 52 in a door, such as the door 20, bend only in the integral corners 70 and 72 of the bracket leg 54 and undergo no other appreciable deformation, especially twisting or inward collapse; when the door is willfullydistorte'cl out of plane for fitting purposes. The reason for this will appear obvious hereinafter; In order that the notches 76 and 90 and their respective interlocked tongues 78 and 88 in the leg '56 of the mounted bracket 52 will not obstruct the relative creep between the side walls 643 and 62 occasioned as hereinafter described by" the above mentioned bending of the corners 70 and 7-2 in consequenee of willful distortion of the deer out of plane from the original shape shown in Fig. 16 into the shape shown in Figs. 17 and 18, for instance, some clearance 94 and 96 is preferably provided between the notches 76 and 90 and their respective interlocked tongues 78 and 88. While these clearances are sufiicient to permit the bending of the bracket 52 in the corners 70 and 72 thereof for door fitting purposes to an extent like or similar to that shown in Fig. 18 without obstruction from the notches 76, 90 and their respective interlocked tongues 78 and 88, these clearances are insufiicient to permit any appreciable twist in the bracket. Some clearance 98 is preferably also provided between the notch 84 and interlocked tongue 82 in the bracket leg 54.

In assembling the door 20, the bracket 52 is inserted with its diverging legs in the adjacent mitered ends of one of the upright stiles 32 and either the top or bottom rail 34 or 36. In the example shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 6A, the bracket 52 is inserted in the non-hinged stile 32 and the top rail 34, with the bracket legs 54 and 56 being in this instance disposed in the stile 32' and top rail 34, respectively. Suitable fasteners, such as screws 1%, for instance, serve to secure the inserted bracket 52 to the stile 32' and top rail 34 in their butted relation. It will be noted from Fig. 6 that only the bottom sections 64 and 66 of the bracket 52 are secured to the stile 32 and top rail 34, the bottom sections 64 and 66 of the bracket being to this end preferably provided with holes 102 (Figs. 13 and 14) in which the screws 100 may cut their own threads when applied. Brackets or corner joints identical with the one shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 6A may be mounted in the same fashion in the other corners of the door.

The bracket 52 is preferably of such crosssectional shape and dimensions that the legs 54 and 56 thereof are received fittedly in the stile 32 and top rail 34 (Figs. to 12). In this fittedly receiving the legs of the bracket 52, the stile 32' and top rail 34 will directly transmit to the bracket by far the greater portion of the forces which will bend the same, as aforementioned, on willful distortion of the door out of plane for fitting purposes, so that the fasteners 100 will be subjected to only minor stresses during the willful distortion of the door.

After its assembly in the factory, a metal door, such as the door 20, is usually more or less plane (Figs. 2 and 3) or only slightly out of plane. With the instant corner joints or brackets 52 provided in the door, it is a simple matter to bring the door back into a true plane or to distort the same out of plane for fitting purposes. Thus, assuming that the metal door jamb 24 has been mounted with its face flange 28 flush against the adjacent face of the warped door frame 26 and is, accordingly, warped the same as the latter, and assuming further that the door to be fitted is hung and is noticeably out of plane with the mounted door jamb at the non-hinged side thereof, the door may readily be brought approximately or accurately into the distorted plane of the door jamb to fit therein on applying to the door near the non-hinged side and at the top and bottom thereof strong but not excessive pressure from opposite directions, respectively. If the door is to be fitted before being hung or while unhung, the required distortion of the same out of its present plane may as readily be accomplished by strong pull and pressure on appropriate opposite places on the door. In any event, and regardless of whether the door is hung or unhung, an operator of ordinary skill entrusted with the task of fitting the door will, without any tools and without undue physical effort on his part, be able to distort the door and fit it in short order at the first try or after a few tries.

Let it now be assumed that the hung door 20 (Fig. 16) requires for its fit in a mounted door jamb distortion out of plane to the extent indicated in Figs. 17 and 18. The door may permanently be distorted to this extent by applying, for instance, the oppositely directed forces F1 and F2 to the top and bottom, respectively, of the door near the non-hinged side thereof, resulting in slight permanent bending of the adjacent door stile 32 and top and bottom rails 34 and 36 in a manner which is hardly perceptible. The distortion forces to which the door is thus subjected are transmitted in part to the corner joints or brackets 52 and compel the same to deform in the least resistant manner to conform in shape to the deliberately distorted shape of the door. By virtue of the before-described construction of the brackets 52 and in view of the fitted reception of the diverging legs of these brackets in the respective stiles and top and bottom rails of the door, the brackets will with the least resistance be deformed to conform to the deliberately distorted shape of the door by bending in the corners 70 and 72. This follows clearly from Fig. 18 in which the distorting forces transmitted to the bracket 52 in the course of the deliberate distortion of the door will far more readily bend the bracket in the corners '70 and '72 than twist or collapse the same. In thus bending the bracket 52 in the corners 70 and 72 while the opposite side walls 60 and 62 thereof are held in substantial parallelism in the stile 32 and top rail 34 and are angularly displaced relative to the bottom section 64, the side walls 60 and 62 are bound to creep somewhat relative to each other in the direction of the top rail 34, with the result that the tongues 78 and 83 will then be in engagement, or substantial engagement, with one end of their respective notches 76 and 99 (Figs. 17 and 18). Of course, the lateral lug extensions and 86 will effectively prevent any inward collapse, and the notches 76, 90 and their respective interlocked tongues 78 and 38 will prevent any appreciable twisting, of the bracketSZ, as will be readily understood. The other corner joints or brackets in the door will, on willful distortion of the latter out of plane for fitting purposes, be similarly bent without any inward collapse or appreciable twist. While in the abovedescribed example the legs 54 and 56 are received in the stile 32 and top rail 34, respectively, the same bracket may with equal advantage be applied so that its legs 54 and 56 are received in the top rail 34 and the stile 32', respectively. In other words, the corners 70 and 72 of the bracket 52 will be bent, and the latter will not collapse or appreciably twist, on deliberate distortion of the door out of plane for fitting purposes, regardless of the disposition of the bracket legs 54 and 56 in the stile 32 and top rail 34. The same holds true for the corner joints or brackets at the other corners of the door.

Since deliberate distortion of the door out of plane for fitting purposes is accompanied by permanent bending of the corner joints or brackets 52 as explained, it stands to reason that the latter remain sufficiently rigid to withstand even severe accidental distorting forces which doors in general are expected to withstand occasionally. It is also conceivable to use less than four of these brackets 52 in the door and still be able to distort the latter out of plane for fitting purposes. Thus, two of these brackets 52 at the ends of the non-hinged stile 32 of the door may be sufficient for door fitting purposes in accordance with the described door distortion method, while the joints or connections at the ends of the hinged stile 32 of the door may be more or less conventional in construction since the major distortion of the door may in most cases be localized at and near the non-hinged side thereof.

While the instant corner joint or bracket 52 is by way of preference blanked from sheet metal stock and then finish-formed by simple bending, a bracket having substantially the same advantages insofar as its adaptation to metal doors fittable by distortion is concerned may be formed integrally throughout as long as the open channel of the bracket is in each diverging leg thereof in part tubular in cross-section.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes 7 coining within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to he embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

A I. A corner joint element for a metal door, comprising a single-piece bracket of malleable metal having continiiou's ictarighlaflj extending legs of which one leg is a continiioiis channel having first spaced parallel sides and a connecting bottom integral with said sides, the other leg having throughout its length other spaced parallel sides continuous and integral with said first sides, and certain of said first and other sides having lateral tong'u'es in interlock with the adjacent sides to forni only part of each leg tubular in cross-section.

2. A corner joint element for a metal door as set forth in claim 1, in which said channel bottom is outermost. 3. A corner joint element for a metal door, comprising a single-piece bracket of malleable metal having continuous r'ectangiilarly' extending channel-shaped legs of which one leg has first spaced parallel sides and an outer connecting bottom integral with said sides, the other leg having second spaced parallel sides continuous and integral with said first sides and an outer bottom continuous and integral with one of said second sides and interlocked with the other one of said second sides, and certain of said first and second sides of said legs having opposite their respective bottoms lateral tongues in interlock with the adjacent sides to form only part of each leg tubular in cross-section.

4. A corner joint element for a metal door, comprising a single-piece bracket of malleable metal having continuous rectangularly extending channel-shaped legs of which one leg has first spaced parallel sides and an outer connecting bottom integral with said sides, the other leg having second spaced parallel sides continuous and integral with said first sides and an outer bottom continuous and integral with one of said second sides and interlocked with the other one of said second 8 sides with su'fiicient clearance for limited relative move: ment between them longitudinally of said ether leg, and certain of said first and second sides of said legs having' opposite their respective bottoms lateral tongues in interlock with the adjacent sides to term only patter each leg tubular in cross-section.

5. A corner joint element for a metal door as set forth in claim 4, in which Said lateral tongues are interlocked with said adjacent sides with sijfiicient clearance for limited relative movement between them longitudinally' of the respective legs of which they form parts.

6. A C'Ofl'ier' joint element ff a metal door as set forth in claim 4, in which said other one of said second sides is in its outer edge provided with a notch with which the bottom of said other leg is in interlock.

7. A corner joint element fora metal door as set forth in claim 4, in which said adjacent sides are in their edges opposite the respective bottoms provided with notches With which the associated tongues are in inter= lock;

8. A corner joint element for a metal door as set forth in claim 4, in which said other one of said second sides is in its outer edge provided with a notch with which the bottom of said other leg is in interlock and said adjacent sides are in their edges opposite the respective bottoms provided with notches with which the associated tongues are in interlock.

References Cited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 933,067 Ferr Sept. 7, 1909 1,729,586 Liebman ept. 24, 1929 2,052,121 Venzie Aug. 25, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 957,093 France Feb. 13, 1950 

